Supply Chain Digest Says...   The only apparent causes for the doubling of cancelled sailings are the uncertainty of US tariffs and expected decline in volumes.     What do you say?   Click here to send us your comments       Click here to see reader feedback

Ocean container carriers have ramped up the number of cancelled sailings lately. What’s going on?

In a recent Container Insights blog post, the maritime analysts at Drewry observe that carriers normally cancel many sailings in February due to Chinese New Year, but reduce this practice in the following months.

But this year, carriers continued to cancel more than 40 Asia-West Coast North America sailings a month in both March and for April.

Drewry says that US importers are understandably reluctant to ship from Asia to the US without knowing what new US tariffs will hit them once they clear their goods on arrival in North America.

As a result, after strong volumes in January-February, which included some “front-loading,” to avoid tariffs, carriers may have anticipated lower shipping volumes and a slowdown in import growth and “blanked” sailings.

But Drewry says the moves may be strategic as well.

“While carriers and shippers are currently negotiating new service contracts starting from 1 May, some carriers may have cancelled sailings to justify increases in contract rates in a market where capacity seems tight,” Drewry observed.

Its analyst further note that even on Transatlantic routes, about twice as many sailings have been cancelled this March and April as was the case this time last year. On this route, a much smaller proportion of annual contracts are being negotiated now.

The only apparent causes for the doubling of cancelled sailings are the uncertainty of US tariffs and expected decline in volumes.

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